She was having a great day until she was met with the face of her dead mother.
Kira wished she had sewed her mouth shut before she blurted without thinking.
Leo and Hazel both glanced back to her, Leo with a concerned face, and Hazel bewildered.
Kira certainly didn't seem like the girl to hate her mother. She wore her necklace, she had her picture up in her room, she never talked bad about her, but she also never talked about her at all.
Her relationship with her mother was not the best. Her mom was a successful businesswoman to the city of Seattle, and to Kira, she was a drunk.
Kira had tried for years to forgive her mother, especially after her mysterious death. She was supposed to forgive and forget, like she did everything else.
Her mother had messed up her life pretty bad. She flinched whenever someone she didn't know tried to touch her, she didn't like when people raised her voice, etc. In fact, the reason she was so calm all the time was because she didn't want to be like her mother. She didn't want to lose control.
When the woman appeared to her as her mom, she almost broke down then and there.
Forcing herself to look away from her and Leo, she tried to compose herself.
"Is that what you see?" the woman asked. "Interesting. And you, Hazel, dear?"
"How did you—?" Hazel stepped back in alarm. "You—you look like Mrs. Leer. My third grade teacher. I hated you."
The woman cackled. "Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"
"You—she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving," Hazel said. "She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and— No. She has to be dead. Who are you?"
"Oh, Leo knows," the woman said. "How do you feel about Aunt Rosa, mijo?"
The words seemed to effect Leo, so she moved on.
"And you, dear Kira?" her mom asked. Her blood ran cold. "How do you feel about your mother?"
Kira stared at the white sand.
"Nemesis," Leo said. "You're the goddess of revenge."
"You see?" The goddess smiled at Hazel. "He recognizes me."
Nemesis cracked another cookie and wrinkled her nose. "You will have great fortune when you least expect it," she read. "That's exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie, and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll be rich! I blame that tramp Tyche. Always dispensing good luck to people who don't deserve it!"
Leo looked at the mound of broken cookies. "Uh...you know those aren't real prophecies, right? They're just stuffed in the cookies at some factory—"
"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tyche to get people's hopes up. No, no. I must counter her." Nemesis flicked a finger over the slip of paper, and the letters changed to red. "You will die painfully when you most expect it. There! Much better."
"That's horrible!" Hazel said. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"
"My dear Hazel, haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"
"That doesn't mean I'd want them to come true!"
"Bah." The goddess resealed the cookie and tossed it in her basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman. Like the others, she's in a horrible way right now. Me? I'm not affected. I am called Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change, because revenge is universal."
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "What are you doing here?"
Nemesis opened another cookie. "Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet.
"To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation."
Hearing her mother's voice after years hurt, very bad. She held back tears, debating running all the way back to Argo II.
"But we're not at war," Leo insisted.
"Um, Leo..." Hazel winced. "Except for the fact that you recently blew up large sections of New Rome."
Leo stared at her. "Not on purpose!"
"I know," Hazel said, "but the Romans don't realize that. And they'll be pursuing us in retaliation."
Nemesis cackled. "Leo, listen to the girl. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"
"Me."
The goddess snorted. "Well, don't you have a high opinion of yourself. You're just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera—or Juno, if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron!"
"So why are you here?" he asked.
"Why, to offer my help!" Nemesis smiled wickedly.
"Your help," Leo said.
"Of course!" said the goddess. "I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" Hazel's voice was tight. "I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing. Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"
Kira had lost her mom, too, but she stayed silent.
"Right now," he said, trying to control his anger, "all I want is some Celestial bronze."
"Oh, that's easy," Nemesis said. "It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."
"Wait," Hazel said. "What sweethearts?"
Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all. "You'll see. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life." She smiled. "And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see...it's June twenty-fifth? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome."
Hazel's eyes widened. "How...what—?"
"Daughter of war." She spoke strongly, and Kira looked up to face her mother. "You better be as strong mentally as you are physically to live through this quest. Gaea will not be kind to you." She shuttered. "Oh, dear. Yes, prepare yourself."
"And as for you, child of fire." She turned to Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider. You will not find a place among your brethren. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you...for a price."
"Hey, mother!" Kira glared at her mother, eyes narrowing. "Don't talk down to him."
Kira smelled smoke. She realized Leo's fingers on his left hand were ablaze, and Hazel was staring at him in terror.
He shoved his hand in his pocket to extinguish the flames. "I like to solve my own problems."
"Very well." Nemesis brushed cookie dust off her jacket.
"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?"
The goddess shrugged. "One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."
Leo's hand trembled as he held the fortune cookie. "What problem?"
"You...want an eye?"
"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She handed him an unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem."
"You'll know when the time comes."
"No, thanks," Leo said firmly. But his hand, as though it had a will of its own, slipped the cookie into his tool belt.
Nemesis picked another cookie from her bag and cracked it open. "You will have cause to reconsider your choices soon. Oh, I like that one. No changes needed here."
She resealed the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Very few gods will be able to help you on the quest. Most are already incapacitated, and their confusion will only grow worse. One thing might bring unity to Olympus again—an old wrong finally avenged. Ah, that would be sweet indeed, the scales finally balanced! But it will not happen unless you accept my help."
"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about," Hazel muttered. "Or why my brother Nico has only six days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed."
Nemesis chuckled. She rose and slung her sack of cookies over her shoulder. "Oh, it's all tied together, Hazel Levesque. As for my offer, Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child. A hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite...agitated when the darkness comes."
The goddess climbed on her motorcycle. Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke.
Hazel bent down. All the broken cookies and fortunes had disappeared except for one crumpled slip of paper. She picked it up and read, "You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair."
"Fantastic," Leo grumbled. "Let's go see what that means."
Leo kept looking back at Kira, who looked miserable.
"Who is Aunt Rosa?" Hazel asked.
Leo didn't answer, trying to catch Kira's eye, but her gaze stayed glued to the ground.
"Long story," he said. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well..." Leo looked back again. "What about you? What Nemesis said about your brother?"
"Nico...he found me in the Underworld. He brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the Romans at Camp Jupiter to accept me. I owe him for my second chance at life. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger...I have to help him."
"Sure," Leo said. "And what Nemesis said about your brother having six days to live, and Rome getting destroyed...any idea what she meant?"
"None," Hazel admitted. "But I'm afraid..."
She didn't finish her sentence, and Leo didn't seem to care. He fell back, letting Hazel lead to talk to Kira.
"Ki?" He asked softly. Kira looked up to him, her hazel eyes shining with tears. "Oh, hermosa,"
She leaned into him, letting silence overtake them. She bathed in his warmth, helping it make her feel better from seeing her dead mom. He ran his hands through her hair.
"When we were talking to Nemesis," Hazel said from the front uneasily, "your hands...I saw flames."
"Yeah," he said. "It's a Hephaestus power. Usually I can keep it under control."
"Oh."
"We should keep going," he said. "I wonder what Nemesis meant about finishing before dark."
Hazel glanced at the sun, which was just touching the horizon. "And who is the cursed boy she mentioned?"
Below them, a voice said, "Cursed boy she mentioned."
Kira looked up to see a young woman was standing only ten feet from the base of the boulder. Her dress was a Greek-style tunic the same color as the rocks. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blond and gray, so it blended with the dry grass. She wasn't invisible, exactly, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved.
"Nice to meet you," Kira said, but her voice was not welcoming. It was sad and tired. "I'm Kira."
"Hello," Hazel said. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" the girl answered. Her voice sounded weary, like she was tired of answering that question.
"Are you the cursed kid Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl."
"You're a girl," said the girl.
"Excuse me?" Leo said.
"Excuse me," the girl said miserably.
"You're repeating..." Leo stopped. "Oh. Hold it. Hazel, wasn't there some myth about a girl who repeated everything—?"
"Echo," Hazel said.
"Echo," the girl agreed. She shifted, her dress changing with the landscape. Her eyes were the color of salt water.
"I don't remember the myth," he admitted. "You were cursed to repeat the last thing you heard?"
"You heard," Echo said.
"Poor thing," Hazel said. "If I remember right, a goddess did this?"
"A goddess did this," Echo confirmed.
Leo scratched his head. "But wasn't that thousands of years...oh. You're one of the mortals who came back through the Doors of Death. I really wish we could stop running into dead people."
"Dead people," Echo said, like she was chastising him.
He realized Hazel was staring at her feet. Kira kicked him lightly.
"Uh...sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean it that way."
"That way." Echo pointed toward the far shore of the island.
"You want to show us something?" Hazel asked. She climbed down the boulder, and Leo followed.
Even up close, Echo was hard to see. In fact, she seemed to get more invisible the longer she looked at her.
"You sure you're real?" he asked. "I mean...flesh and blood?"
"Flesh and blood." She touched Leo's face and made him flinch. Echo moved back when she saw Kira's upset face get even more miserable, but she didn't say anything.
"So...you have to repeat everything?" he asked.
"Everything."
Leo couldn't help smiling. "That could be fun."
"No, it's not." Kira told him. "Don't mess with her,"
"Don't mess with her," Echo repeated, smiling a bit.
"Okay, okay," Leo said. "So what were you pointing at? Do you need our help?"
"Help," Echo agreed emphatically. She gestured for them to follow and sprinted down the slope.
"We'd better hurry," Hazel said. "Or we'll lose her."
Echo led them down into a grassy meadow shaped like a blast crater, with a small pond in the middle. Gathered at the water's edge were several dozen nymphs. Like the ones at Camp Half-Blood, these wore gossamer dresses. Their feet were bare. They had elfish features, and their skin had a slightly greenish tinge.
They were all crowded together in one spot, facing the pond and jostling for a better view. Several held up phone cameras, trying to get a shot over the heads of the others.
What are they looking at?" Leo wondered.
"Looking at," Echo sighed.
"One way to find out." Hazel marched forward and began nudging her way through the crowd. "Excuse us. Pardon me."
"Hey!" one nymph complained. "We were here first!"
"Yeah," another sniffed. "He won't be interested in you."
The second nymph had large red hearts painted on her cheeks. Over her dress, she wore a T-shirt that read: OMG, I <3 N!!!!
"Uh, demigod business," Leo said, trying to sound official. "Make room. Thanks."
The nymphs grumbled, but they parted to reveal a young man kneeling at the edge of the pond, gazing intently at the water.
Kira saw the man, who was handsome. He had a chiseled face with lips and eyes that were somewhere between feminine beautiful and masculine handsome. Dark hair swept over his brow. He had long graceful arms and muscular legs, perfect posture and an air of regal calm. He wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans, with a bow and quiver strapped to his back. The weapons obviously hadn't been used in a while. The arrows were covered in dust. A spider had woven a web in the top of the bow.
The guy's face was unusually golden. In the sunset, the light was bouncing off a large flat sheet of Celestial bronze that lay at the bottom of the pond, washing Mr. Handsome's features in a warm glow.
Leo was staring at Kira. He was trying to tell if she thought he was handsome, and she could tell he was growing jealous.
Kira was growing annoyed with the trip, wishing she had just stayed home. She was still very upset.
Hazel inhaled sharply. "He's gorgeous."
Around her, the nymphs squealed and clapped in agreement.
"I am," the young man murmured dreamily, his gaze still fixed on the water. "I am so gorgeous."
One of the nymphs showed her iPhone screen. "His latest YouTube video got a million hits in like, an hour. I think I was half of those!"
The other nymphs giggled.
"YouTube video?" Leo asked. "What does he do in the video, sing?"
"No, silly!" the nymph chided. "He used to be a prince, and a wonderful hunter and stuff. But that doesn't matter. Now he just...well, look!" She showed Leo the video. It was exactly what they were seeing in real life—the guy staring at himself in the pond.
"He is sooooo hot!" said another girl. Her T-shirt read: MRS. NARCISSUS.
"Narcissus?" Leo asked.
"Narcissus," Echo agreed sadly.
"Oh, not you again!" Mrs. Narcissus tried to push Echo away, but she misjudged where the camouflaged girl was and ended up shoving several other nymphs.
"You had your chance, Echo!" said the nymph with the iPhone. "He dumped you four thousand years ago! You are so not good enough for him."
"For him," Echo said bitterly.
"Wait." Hazel clearly had trouble tearing her eyes away from the handsome guy, but she managed it. "What's going on here? Why did Echo bring us here?"
One nymph rolled her eyes. She was holding an autograph pen and a crumpled poster of Narcissus. "Echo was a nymph like us, a long time ago, but she was a total chatterbox! Gossiping, blah, blah, blah, all the time."
"I know!" another nymph shrieked. "Like, who could stand that? Just the other day, I told Cleopeia—you know she lives in the boulder next to me?—I said: Stop gossiping or you'll end up like Echo. Cleopeia is such a big mouth! Did you hear what she said about that cloud nymph and the satyr?"
"Totally!" said the nymph with the poster. "So anyway, as punishment for blabbing, Hera cursed Echo so she could only repeat things, which was fine with us. But then Echo fell in love with our gorgeous guy, Narcissus—as if he would ever notice her."
"As if!" said half a dozen others.
"Now she's got some weird idea he needs saving," said Mrs. Narcissus. "She should just go away."
"Go away," Echo growled back.
"I'm so glad Narcissus is alive again," said another nymph in a gray dress. She had the words NARCISSUS + LAIEA written up and down her arms in black marker. "He's like the best! And he's in my territory."
"Oh, stop it, Laiea," her friend said. "I'm the pond nymph. You're just the rock nymph."
"Well, I'm the grass nymph," another protested.
"No, he obviously came here because he likes the wildflowers!" another said. "Those are mine!"
The whole mob began arguing while Narcissus stared at the lake, ignoring them.
"Hold it!" Leo yelled. "Ladies, hold it! I need to ask Narcissus something."
Slowly the nymphs settled down and went back to taking pictures.
Leo knelt next to the handsome dude. "So, Narcissus. What's up?"
"Could you move?" Narcissus asked distractedly. "You're ruining the view."
Kira looked in the water. His own reflection rippled next to Narcissus's on the surface of the submerged bronze. But there was no doubt the metal was a sheet of hammered Celestial bronze, roughly circular, about five feet in diameter.
"Right, great view," Leo said. "Happy to move, but if you're not using it, could I just take that sheet of bronze?"
"No," Narcissus said. "I love him. He's so gorgeous."
"What is this, WWYD?" Kira asked, confused.
"Man," Leo said to Narcissus. "You do realize that you're looking at yourself in the water, right?"
"I am so great," Narcissus sighed. He stretched out a hand longingly to touch the water, but held back. "No, I can't make ripples. That ruins the image. Wow...I am so great."
"Yeah," Leo muttered. "But if I took the bronze, you could still see yourself in the water. Or here..." He reached in his tool belt and pulled out a simple mirror the size of a monocle. "I'll trade you."
Narcissus took the mirror, reluctantly, and admired himself. "Even you carry a picture of me? I don't blame you. I am gorgeous. Thank you." He set the mirror down and returned his attention to the pond. "But I already have a much better image. The color flatters me, don't you think?"
"Oh, gods, yes!" a nymph screamed. "Marry me, Narcissus!"
"No, me!" another cried. "Would you sign my poster?"
"No, sign my shirt!"
"No, sign my forehead!"
"No, sign my—"
"Stop it!" Hazel snapped.
"Stop it," Echo agreed.
Echo was kneeling on the other side of Narcissus, waving her hand in front of his face as if trying to break his concentration. Narcissus didn't even blink.
The nymph fan club tried to shove Hazel out of the way, but she drew her cavalry sword and forced them back. "Snap out of it!" she yelled.
"He won't sign your sword," the poster nymph complained.
"He won't marry you," said the iPhone girl. "And you can't take his bronze mirror! That's what keeps him here!"
"You're all ridiculous," Hazel said. "He's so full of himself! How can you possibly like him?"
"Like him," Echo sighed, still waving her hand in front of his face.
The others sighed along with her.
"I am so hot," Narcissus said sympathetically.
"Narcissus, listen." Hazel kept her sword at the ready. "Echo brought us here to help you. Didn't you, Echo?"
"Echo," said Echo.
"Who?" Narcissus said.
"The only girl who cares what happens to you, apparently," Hazel said. "Do you remember dying?"
Narcissus frowned. "I...no. That can't be right. I am much too important to die."
"You died staring at yourself," Hazel insisted. "I remember the story now. Nemesis was the goddess who cursed you, because you broke so many hearts. Your punishment was to fall in love with your own reflection."
"I love me so, so much," Narcissus agreed.
"You finally died," Hazel continued. "I don't know which version of the story is true. You either drowned yourself or turned into a flower hanging over the water or—Echo, which is it?"
"Which is it?" she said hopelessly.
Leo stood. "It doesn't matter. The point is you're alive again, man. You have a second chance. That's what Nemesis was telling us. You can get up, and get on with your life. Echo is trying to save you. Or you can stay here and stare at yourself until you die again."
"Stay here!" all the nymphs screamed.
"Marry me before you die!" another squeaked.
Narcissus shook his head. "You just want my reflection. I don't blame you, but you can't have it. I belong to me."
Hazel sighed in exasperation. She gestured with her sword toward the edge of the crater. "Leo, could we talk for a minute?"
Kira frowned. She glanced at the sun, which was sinking fast.
"And Kira," She said quickly, offering the girl a smile. Kira was happy she was warming up to her.
"Excuse us," Leo told Narcissus. "Echo, want to come with?"
"Come with," Echo confirmed.
The nymphs clustered around Narcissus again and began recording new videos and taking more photos.
Hazel led the way until they were out of earshot. "Nemesis was right," she said. "Some demigods can't change their nature. Narcissus is going to stay there until he dies again."
"No," Leo said.
"Argeed," Kira said, giving a sad smile to Leo.
"No," Echo agreed.
"We need that bronze," Leo said. "If we take it away, it might give Narcissus a reason to snap out of it. Echo could have a chance to save him."
"A chance to save him," Echo said gratefully.
Hazel stabbed her sword in the sand. "It could also make several dozen nymphs very angry with us," she said. "And Narcissus might still know how to shoot his bow."
"Hazel," he said, "your power with precious metal— Can you just detect it, or can you actually summon it to you?"
She frowned. "Sometimes I can summon it. I've never tried with a piece of Celestial bronze that big before. I might be able to draw it to me through the earth, but I'd have to be fairly close. It would take a lot of concentration, and it wouldn't be fast."
"Be fast," Echo warned.
Leo cursed.
"All right," he said. "We'll have to try something risky. Hazel, how about you try to summon the bronze from right here? Make it sink through the sand and tunnel over to you, then grab it and run for the ship."
"But Narcissus is looking at it all the time," she said.
"All the time," Echo echoed.
"That'll be my job," Leo said, hating his own plan already. "Echo, Kira, and I will cause a distraction."
"Distraction?" Echo asked.
"I'll explain," Leo promised. "Are you willing?"
"Willing," Echo said.
"Great," Leo said. "Now, let's hope we don't die."
Leo summoned some breath mints and a pair of welding goggles from his tool belt. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He used some machine oil to grease back his hair. He stuck a wrench in his back pocket and he had Kira draw a tattoo on his biceps with a marker: HOT STUFF, with a skull and crossbones.
Kira smiled, looking at the boy. She thought he looked incredible.
"What in the world are you thinking?" Kira sounded pretty flustered.
"I try not to think," Leo admitted. "It interferes with being nuts. Just concentrate on moving that Celestial bronze. Echo, you ready?"
"Ready," she said.
"Wait," Kira said, moving closer. "Last touch," She planted a kiss on his cheek.
Leo took a deep breath. He strutted back toward the pond. "Leo is the coolest!" he shouted.
"Leo is the coolest!" Echo shouted back.
"Yeah, baby, check me out!"
It was weird, to try to get her boyfriend to be checked out by other nymphs, even if it was for a quest.
"Check me out!" Echo said.
"Make way for the king!" Kira yelled, amusement in her features. She was slowly forgetting what had happened earlier.
"The king!"
"Narcissus is weak!"
"Weak!"
The crowd of nymphs scattered in surprise. Leo shooed them away as if they were bothering him. "No autographs, girls. I know you want some Leo time, but I'm way too cool. You better just hang around that ugly dweeb Narcissus. He's lame!"
"Lame!" Echo said with enthusiasm.
The nymphs muttered angrily.
"What are you talking about?" one demanded.
"You're lame," said another.
Leo adjusted his goggles and smiled. Kira couldn't help but think he was more gorgeous then Narcissus.
He flexed his biceps and showed off his HOT STUFF tattoo. He had the nymphs' attention, if only because they were stunned; but Narcissus was still fixed on his own reflection.
"You know how ugly Narcissus is?" Leo asked the crowd. "He's so ugly, when he was born his mama thought he was a backward centaur—with a horse butt for a face."
Some of the nymphs gasped. Narcissus frowned, as though he was vaguely aware of a gnat buzzing around his head.
"You know why his bow has cobwebs?" Leo continued. "He uses it to hunt for dates, but he can't find one!"
One of the nymphs laughed. The others quickly elbowed her into silence.
Narcissus turned and scowled at Leo. "Who are you?"
"I'm the Super-sized McShizzle, man!" Leo said. "I'm Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme. And the ladies love a bad boy."
"Love a bad boy!" Echo said, with a convincing squeal.
Leo took out a pen and autographed the arm of one of the nymphs. "Narcissus is a loser! He's so weak, he can't bench-press a Kleenex. He's so lame, when you look up lame on Wikipedia, it's got a picture of Narcissus—only the picture's so ugly, no one ever checks it out."
Narcissus knit his eyebrows. His face was turning from bronze to salmon pink. For the moment, he'd totally forgotten about the pond, and Kira could see the sheet of bronze sinking into the sand.
"What are you talking about?" Narcissus demanded. "I am amazing. Everyone knows this."
"Amazing at pure suck," Leo said. "If I was as suck as you, I'd drown myself. Oh wait, you already did that."
Another nymph giggled. Then another. Narcissus growled. Meanwhile Leo beamed and wiggled his eyebrows over his goggles and spread his hands, gesturing for applause.
"That's right!" he said. "Team Leo for the win!"
"Team Leo for the win!" Echo shouted. She'd wriggled into the mob of nymphs, and because she was so hard to see, the nymphs apparently thought the voice came from one of their own.
"Team Leo!" Kira called, laughing softly. Leo shot her a wink.
"Oh my god, I am so awesome!" Leo bellowed.
"So awesome!" Echo yelled back.
"He is funny," a nymph ventured.
"And cute, in a scrawny way," another said.
"Scrawny?" Leo asked. "Baby, I invented scrawny. Scrawny is the new sizzling hot. And I GOT the scrawny. Narcissus? He's such a loser even the Underworld didn't want him. He couldn't get the ghost girls to date him."
"Eww," said a nymph.
"Eww!" Echo agreed.
"Stop!" Narcissus got to his feet. "This is not right! This person is obviously not awesome, so he must be..." He struggled for the right words. It had probably been a long time since he'd talked about anything other than himself. "He must be tricking us."
Apparently Narcissus wasn't completely stupid. Realization dawned on his face. He turned back to the pond. "The bronze mirror is gone! My reflection! Give me back to me!"
"Team Leo!" one of the nymphs squeaked. But the others returned their attention to Narcissus.
"I'm the beautiful one!" Narcissus insisted. "He's stolen my mirror, and I'm going to leave unless we get it back!"
The girls gasped. One pointed. "There!"
Hazel was at the top of the crater, running away as fast as she could while lugging a large sheet of bronze.
Hazel was at the top of the crater, running away as fast as she could while lugging a large sheet of bronze.
"Get it back!" cried a nymph.
Probably against her will, Echo muttered, "Get it back."
"Yes!" Narcissus unslung his bow and grabbed an arrow from his dusty quiver. "The first one who gets that bronze, I will like you almost as much as I like me. I might even kiss you, right after I kiss my reflection!"
"Oh my gods!" the nymphs screamed.
"And kill those demigods!" Narcissus added, glaring at Leo and Kira. "They are not as cool as me!"
Leo and Kira overtook Hazel, which was easy, since she was struggling with fifty pounds of Celestial bronze. Kira took it from her, allowing her to run faster. Narcissus was nocking an arrow, but it was so old and brittle, it broke into splinters.
"Ow!" he yelled very attractively. "My manicure!"
Normally nymphs were quick—at least the ones at Camp Half-Blood were—but these were burdened with posters, T-shirts, and other Narcissus™ merchandise. The nymphs also weren't great at working as a team. They kept stumbling over one another, pushing and shoving. Echo made things worse by running among them, tripping and tackling as many as she could.
Still, they were closing rapidly.
"Call Arion!" Leo gasped.
"Already did!" Hazel said.
They ran for the beach. They made it to the edge of the water and could see the Argo II, but there was no way to get there. It was much too far to swim, even if they hadn't been toting bronze.
Kira turned. The mob was coming over the dunes, Narcissus in the lead, holding his bow like a band major's baton. The nymphs had conjured assorted weapons. Some held rocks. Some had wooden clubs wreathed in flowers. A few of the water nymphs had squirt guns—which seemed not quite as terrifying—but the look in their eyes was still murderous.
"Oh, man," Leo muttered, summoning fire in his free hand. "Straight-up fighting isn't my thing."
"Hold the Celestial bronze." Kira said, ripping off her necklace to reveal her sword. "Get behind me!"
Hazel appeared next to her, sword in her hand as well.
They may not be on the best of terms, for gods knows why, but they were ready to fight side-by-side.
"Get behind me!" Echo repeated. The camouflaged girl was racing ahead of the mob now. She stopped in front of Leo and turned, spreading her arms as if she meant to personally shield him.
"Echo?" Leo could hardly talk with the lump in his throat. "You're one brave nymph."
"Brave nymph?" Her tone made it a question.
"I'm proud to have you on Team Leo," he said. "If we survive this, you should forget Narcissus."
"Forget Narcissus?" she said uncertainly.
"You're way too good for him."
"Heck yeah," Kira added, giving Echo a sweet smile.
The nymphs surrounded them in a semicircle.
"Trickery!" Narcissus said. "They don't love me, girls! We all love me, don't we?"
"Yes!" the girls screamed, except for one confused nymph in a yellow dress who squeaked, "Team Leo!"
"Kill them!" Narcissus ordered.
The nymphs surged forward, but the sand in front of them exploded. Arion raced out of nowhere, circling the mob so quickly he created a sandstorm, showering the nymphs in white lime, spraying their eyes.
"I love this horse!" Leo said.
The nymphs collapsed, coughing and gagging. Narcissus stumbled around blindly, swinging his bow like he was trying to hit a piñata.
Hazel climbed into the saddle, hoisted up the bronze, and offered Leo a hand. Leo offered one to Kira.
"We can't leave Echo!" Leo said.
"Leave Echo," the nymph repeated.
She smiled.
"Why?" Leo asked. "You don't think you can still save Narcissus..."
"Save Narcissus," she said confidently. She'd been given a second chance at life, and she was determined to use it to save the guy she loved—even if he was a completely hopeless (though very handsome) moron.
"Leo, come on!" Hazel called.
The other nymphs were starting to recover. They wiped the lime out of their eyes, which were now glowing green with anger.
"Yeah," he said, his throat dry. "Yeah, okay."
Arion took off across the water, the nymphs screaming behind them, and Narcissus shouting, "Bring me back! Bring me back!"
Arion raced toward the Argo II.